Letters to the Editor,

Submissions from Park Record Readers

Posted:
05/09/2014 04:17:56 PM MDT

More support for mental health in Summit County

Editor:

Thank you for your recent article about the suicides in Summit County and the resources available. You may also be interested to know that the Wasatch-Summit affiliate of NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) started two free classes last week in relation to this issue. One for family members of those suffering with mental illness called Family to Family. The other for those with mental illness, called BRIDGES (building recovery of individual dreams and goal through education and support). They are twelve week free classes. Turnout has been tremendous. We are holding the classes at South Summit High and details can be found at namiut.org . There is also a support group for those with mental illness called Connections available. It is held the first and third Thursday of each month at the Peoples Health Clinic, downstairs classroom, 7 p.m.- 8:30 pm. We are a non-profit organization that offers these for free by peer volunteers.

Sherrie Christensen

National Alliance on Mental Illness, Utah

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ESL exam requirements are biased

Editor:

Kudos to Kendyl, Isaac, Grace and Cris four seventh graders at Park City Day School who wrote the Guest Editorial on Wednesday. Their well-written and researched letter draws attention to the process to identify candidates for ESL in the public school system.

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They want the community to know that Latino students are treated differently by being required to take an ESL exam regardless of their abilities. They quote Dr. Ember Conley, who explained that if another language besides English is spoken in the home, or if another language was the child's first language, federal law requires the test.

I'm curious if that question gets asked to the Caucasians. Are all the kids seated in a classroom, and is the entire class addressed with the question, or are the Latino students (and/or parents) singled out?

What constitutes a first language? Can't a family have two languages at home? How can we argue that if someone starts learning English at age 3, that isn't (one of) their first language(s)? Today English is heard worldwide. Wouldn't listening to English language music count as the beginning of an English education?

My grandparents had recently escaped from Poland when they had my mother, so they often spoke Polish at home (though they tried not to). Did the public school system ask my family which word was spoken first, a word in English or a word in Polish?

At young ages, it can be very easy to learn a second language. Even at age 30, when I attended school in Paris, our lessons were in French after only three months. What's the harm in easing up on the federal requirements, perhaps even using the famous line "don't ask, don't tel.l" Particularly if two languages were spoken at once, why force Latino students to take the ESL?

Laurie Moldawer

Park City

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Repunlicans witch hunt is on the wrong track

Editor:

Why aren't the Bush Administration lies that resulted in the deaths of 6,000 American soldiers and 200,000 Iraqis being investigated with the same vigor as the Benghazi attacks in which 4 people were killed? How long will Republican hypocrisy be used to replace truth?

Nick Wright

Park City

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PCCAPS deserves community support

Park City School Board Members:

I have found PCCAPS to be a great program. Having the opportunity to work with a real company has been an eye-opening, amazing experience. My communication skills have become so much stronger, in a way that regular high school classes never allowed. The atmosphere is profoundly different from the high school setting: "You are in charge of getting this job done and making this project a success. Now do it." Although the instructors provide great advice and tips when working with partner companies, they don't baby you. In the high school classrooms, teachers will hold your hand 24/7. PCCAPS forces you to grow up and take things seriously.

Of course, there are students who complain and think of PCCAPS as a joke. Regular high school classes are treated the same way. These students are simply extremely lazy and try to get by with the minimal amount of work required. They have developed a negative attitude toward school over the years, and it has carried over into PCCAPS. However, these types of students usually have no idea what they doing with their project. They pretend to be busy, working hard on their project, when the instructors are near. No one is fooled, though. It is clear that they do little activity of real worth when called upon to present information to the group. Negative comments about PCCAPS surely come from these types of students and their uninformed parents, who are fed displeasing commentary.

It would be truly sad if the unique PCCAPS program was significantly influenced by these lazy students.

Calen Buford

Engineering Program, Park City High School

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A surprised Clyde says party was a treat

Editor:

"Thanks!"

If I had known the party would be so much fun, I would have turned 60 years ago.

Thanks to Terry Moffitt, Sandra Morrison and Fr. Bob for planning the event. It was wonderful to share the big night with so many friends going back over so many great years here. There aren't many situations where you can publish the announcement of a surprise birthday party in the paper and know the guest of honor won't see it, but the Wednesday paper takes a while to find its way out to Woodland.

Thanks to everybody who came and made the big day special and memorable. It was great sharing it with you.